The present invention relates to a casket and particularly, to a lightweight burial casket having a lid and a casket shell made partially of a paperboard or fiberboard material. More particularly, the present invention relates to the features of the lid and casket shell of the casket, the methods for making the lid and the casket shell, and the apparatus used to make the lid and casket shell.
Caskets made of a paperboard material such as corrugated fiberboard and honeycomb core material are known in the art. Such caskets are generally less expensive and lighter in weight than conventional caskets made of wood or metal. While it is desirable for caskets made of paperboard material to be produced as inexpensively as possible, it is also desirable for such caskets to have features that are usually included in the more expensive, wood or metal caskets. For example, some wood or metal caskets include tilting mechanisms for tilting a mattress relative to a casket shell of the casket to enhance the position at which a deceased person is displayed in the casket.
Conventional casket lids have a relatively complex shape, sometimes requiring a number of separate pieces to be attached together after a considerable number of machining operations are performed on the separate pieces. Casket lids made of bendable and foldable sheets of material such as paperboard and metal typically will have a number of cuts or score lines made in the sheets of material to allow folding of the sheets into the desired casket lid shape. The complex shape of casket lids results in high production costs for casket lids. Therefore, a casket lid made of components that are assembled by a manufacturing method resulting in reduced casket lid production costs would be welcomed in the art.
Conventional caskets typically have either a single lid that extends over the full length of the interior region of the casket shell or a pair of lid halves that each extend over half of the interior region of the casket shell. One way of making casket lids from bendable or foldable elements is to place the elements in a fixture or die having a surface that matches the desired shaped of the casket lid. Such fixtures are often expensive and separate fixtures for full-length and half-length casket lids are generally required. A single casket lid production fixture capable of producing full-length casket lids and lid halves would be welcomed in the art as well.
According to the present invention, a lid for a casket includes a cover having longitudinally spaced-apart first and second end edges and transversely spaced-apart first and second side edges. The cover includes a dome extending between the first and second side edges and between the first and second end edges. The lid further includes an end cap having an end panel and a rim appended to the end panel. The end cap is coupled to the cover adjacent to the first end edge and the rim extends from the end panel to cover a portion of the cover adjacent to the first end edge.
In preferred embodiments, the lid includes a second end cap including a second end panel and a second rim appended to the second end panel. The second end cap is coupled to the cover adjacent to the second end edge. The second rim extends from the second end panel to cover a portion of the cover adjacent to the second end edge. Each of the first and second end caps are made from a plastics material so that the first and second end caps are each single contiguous pieces. An upper portion of the rims of the end caps are configured to abut the cover of the lid and are formed to have contours that match the contour of the cover. If the cover portion of the lid is for a full-length lid that covers the entire interior region of a casket shell of the casket, the first and second end panels each include a beveled wall which is inclined with respect to transverse ends of the casket shell. If the cover portion of the lid is for a half-length lid that covers about half of the interior region of the casket shell, the first end cap includes a beveled wall which is inclined with respect to the transverse ends of the casket shell and the second end panel is substantially vertical and crescent-shaped.
Also according to the present invention, a fixture used during construction of a casket lid from casket lid elements includes a frame and a first press coupled to the frame. The first press includes a first base configured to support a first portion of the casket lid elements and a first press head coupled to the first base for movement between a press position pressing the first portion of the casket lid elements against the first base to enhance the uniformity with which films of adhesive between the first portion of the casket lid elements adhere the first portion of the casket lid elements together and a release position spaced apart from the first portion of the casket lid elements.
The fixture further includes a second press coupled to the frame for movement relative thereto and relative to the first press. The second press includes a movable base configured to support a second portion of the casket lid elements and a second press head coupled to the movable base for movement between a press position pressing the second portion of the casket lid elements against the movable base to enhance the uniformity with which films of adhesive between the second portion of the casket lid elements adhere the second portion of the casket lid elements together and a release position spaced apart from the second portion of the casket lid elements. The second press is movable relative to the frame between a first position spaced apart from the first press allowing separate first and second casket lid halves of the casket lid to be constructed on the respective first and second presses and a second position adjacent to the first press allowing the casket lid to be constructed as a one-piece, full-length unit.
In preferred embodiments, the first and second press heads are each mounted to respective first and second trusses. The first and second trusses are each mounted to the respective bases for pivoting movement. The fixture further includes first and second actuators that are coupled to the trusses and that are actuatable to move the press heads from respective press positions in which the casket lid elements are pressed together with a first amount of force to respective heavy-press positions in which the casket lid elements are pressed together with a second amount of force greater than the first amount of force. In addition, the fixture includes first and second latches for locking the trusses in the lowered positions having the press heads pressing the casket lid elements against the respective bases. The fixture also includes a set of clamps that clamp the first and second end caps against the casket lid elements so that adhesive applied to the casket lid elements and applied to the end caps adheres the end cap to the casket lid elements in a proper orientation.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a casket includes a casket shell having longitudinally spaced-apart first and second end walls, transversely spaced-apart side walls, and a bottom wall cooperating with the side and end walls to determine an interior region of the casket. A body support is positioned to lie in the interior region of the casket shell and is configured to support the body of a deceased. The body support includes longitudinally spaced-apart first and second ends. The casket also includes a tilting mechanism coupled to the first end of the body support. The tilting mechanism is operable to move the first end in the interior region of the casket shell. The casket shell additionally includes an end insert panel positioned to lie in the interior region of the casket shell and fastened to the first end wall. The tilting mechanism is coupled to the end insert panel.
In preferred embodiments, the casket shell is made by adhering paperboard casket shell elements together to form a casket shell blank and then folding the casket shell blank to form a box of the casket shell. The end insert panel is made of a material stronger than paperboard and is placed in the interior region of the casket shell adjacent to transverse end flaps of the casket shell blank which comprise a transverse end wall of the box. The end flaps are fastened to the end panel to secure the casket shell blank in the folded configuration to form the casket shell.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.